Major Changes

Google is shutting down the original reCAPTCHA API that Omeka has used, so we're transitioning to the newer, supported "v2" API. This also transitions to the newer "I'm not a robot" checkbox interface.

This update brings a new, more modern interface for HTML editors in Omeka, as well as a supported codebase which should lead to improved compatibility with modern browsers now and going forward.

Note: internal code and filenames have changed in this version of TinyMCE, so all plugins using HTML editors must be updated. Updated versions of ExhibitBuilder and SimplePages are bundled with the release, but others must be updated, including Commenting, Contribution, Posters, SimpleContactForm, and UserProfiles.

Improvements

Message linking to items with no item type (#760, contributed by @Daniel-KM)

Allow multiple item types or collections to be specified for item search (#760, contributed by @Daniel-KM)

PHP Requirements Changes

Omeka 2.4 requires PHP 5.3.2 or higher. Previous versions have worked with the PHP 5.2 series, so be sure to check what version you're running before you upgrade.

Omeka 2.4 now supports PHP 7.

Audio and Video Support Changes

To keep up with the changing browser support landscape, Omeka now uses HTML 5's audio and video tags when embedding audio and video, instead of the object and embed tags used by previous versions.

This change means generally better support for newer formats on current desktop and mobile browsers (for example, fixing a bug where audio files would improperly auto-play on Chrome), but worse support for older video formats, particularly those that rely on browser plugins like Quicktime, Windows Media Player or VLC. Site visitors will still be able to download those older videos and view them locally, provided they have a video player installed that's capable of playing them.